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Not Available ; Cereals occupy prime position in diet composition of all human beings, with rice, wheat and maize being the major staple cereals with more than 70% share among all the food grains. With the inception of green revolution, India from being a food deficit and net importer of food grains not only became self reliant but also one of the major exporters of food grains with the adoption of modern wheat and rice varieties. Thus the present study was undertaken to analyze the trends in area, production and productivity of rice, wheat and maize for the period 1990-91 to 2012-13 obtaining data from the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and coefficient of variation were also used to see the growth patterns and instability in the production and productivity of these cereals overtime. The results showed that in both rice and wheat instability increased in area, production and productivity but most of the states registered an increasing growth trends during the period. Notably Maize showed increase in area, yield and production since 2000 due to its increasing demand for industrial usage and had significant growth in the decade due to its growing commercial value with emergence of promising new hybrids. The study points out to the significant intervention of policy to help maintain stability in case of major cereals of India's food security. ; Not Available

The coordination polymer [Gd(PDOA)(NO)(HO)] (1) (PDOA = o-phenylenedioxydiacetato) has been prepared and spectroscopically and structurally characterized. Its crystal structure is formed of a ribbon-like arrangement of Gd(III) atoms linked by bridging carboxylate groups and placed at the cusps of fused triangles with Gd⋯Gd distances of about 6.1 Å. The Gd(III) central atoms exhibit decacoordination by oxygen atoms from hexadentate PDOA ligands with chelating and bridging functions, a chelating nitrato ligand and two aqua ligands. Intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds of the O[sbnd]H⋯O and C[sbnd]H⋯O types contribute to the stability of the structure. The temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility revealed weak magnetic interactions among Gd(III) ions which may be attributed to dipolar coupling. Investigation of the magnetocaloric effect gives an estimate of the maximum value of isothermal change of magnetic entropy –ΔS ≈ 35 J kg K which suggests that 1 can be a good material for magnetic cooling at low temperatures. ; This work was supported by the Slovak grants VEGA (grant No. 1/0063/17) and APVV-14-0073. We thank also the European Union Regional Development Fund (Slovakia) (ITMS: 26220120005) for financial support. Funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under grant MAT2015-68200-C2-1-P, from the European Regional Development Fund, and from the Diputación General de Aragón (E16) is gratefully acknowledged. ; Peer Reviewed

A modified pre-polymer process was developed for the synthesis of NMP (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone)-free polyurethane-urea aqueous dispersions. The pre-polymer process is based on the use of dimethylol propionic acid (DMPA, hydrophilizing diol), which requires dissolution in NMP to be introduced in the reactive mixture. NMP is difficult to remove from the dispersion remaining in the final product. In this work we present a modified pre-polymer process composed by four main stages: (1) pre-polymer synthesis in two stages: (i) reaction of the isocyanate with the polyol at 80ºC, and (ii) introduction of DMPA pre-neutralized in acetone and proceeding of the reaction at 50ºC, (2) Pre-polymer dispersion in water, (3) Chain extension with a diamine; and (4) Co-solvent removal. Several dispersions were synthesized using different DMPA contents (3.0, 4.0, 5.0%, keeping the pre-neutralization degree at 100.0%), and different DMPA pre-neutralization degree (100.0 and 90.0%, using 5.0 % of DMPA). The effect of these variables in the particle size and dispersion stability was evaluated. Based on the obtained results, the modified pre-polymer process is a feasible alternative to obtain NMP-free PUD, thus fulfilling the restrictions imposed by the European Union. ; POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006984 (LA LSRE-LCM), funded by FEDER, through POCI-COMPETE2020 and FCT; Project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000006, funded by NORTE2020 under PT2020. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Departing from previous research on digital action networks, this paper approaches the spread and emotional contagion of digital activism slightly differently, looking for it not necessarily inside the social movement itself, but rather outside it. By questioning the implicit assumption that the spread and emotional contagion of digital activism is contained only in the context of social movements, we explore emotional enthusiasm also in the social media engagement of other types of contemporaneous civil society organizations, viewing it as a manifestation of Weber's concept of charismatic authority. Empirically, we study voluntary engagement and mobilization on Facebook in Sweden during the refugee crisis of the fall of 2015. In a mixed-method content analysis of 59 Facebook groups and pages, we trace the use of emotional markers in posts during the period September-November 2015. Our findings indicate that the prevalence of emotional enthusiasm outside of social movement, and the lack of durability of it both in organizations and in networks, points to the lack of stability that charismatic authority entails. As charismatic authority becomes institutionalized as a legitimate and predominant manner of organizing through social media, this may have large scale implications for societal organizing at large. The paper indicates that emotional enthusiasm in the form of charismatic authority not only provides democratic opportunities for protest and contention, but, given its emotional contagion, may also but democratic procedures and respect for bureaucratic structures at risk.

Many thanks to M. Maček-Kržmanc, R. A. Evarestov, D. Gryaznov and D. Fuks for fruitful discussions. This study was supported by the ERA-NET HarvEnPiez project. ; An enhancement of the piezoelectric properties of lead-free materials, which allow conversion of mechanical energy into electricity, is a task of great importance and interest. Results of first-principles calculations of piezoelectric/electromechanical properties of the Ba(1–x)SrxTiO3 (BSTO) ferroelectric solid solution with a perovskite structure are presented and discussed. Calculations are performed within the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) approximation and periodic-boundary conditions, using the advanced hybrid functionals of density functional theory (DFT). A supercell model allows the investigation of multiple chemical compositions x. In particular, three BSTO solid solutions with x = 0, 0.125, 0.25 are considered within the experimental stability domain of the ferroelectric tetragonal phase of the solid solution (x < 0.3). The configurational disorder with x = 0.25 composition is also investigated explicitly considering the seven possible atomic configurations corresponding to this composition. It is predicted that Sr-doping of BaTiO3 makes it mechanically harder and enhances its electromechanical/piezoelectric properties, which are important for relevant applications. ; ERA-NET HarvEnPiez project; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART²

Holistic environmental policies, which emerged from a mere combination of technical activities in waste management some 40 years ago, constitute the most advanced level of environmental policies. These approaches to environmental policy, among them the policies in integrated waste management, attempt to guide economic agents to an environment-friendly behaviour. Nevertheless, current holistic policies in waste management, including policies on one-way drinks containers and waste electrical and electronic equipment, and implementations of extended producer responsibility with further applications to waste electrical and electronic equipment, reveal more or less severe deficiencies – despite some positive examples. This article relates these policy failures, which are not necessarily the result of an insufficient compliance with the regulations, to missing constitutive elements of what is going to be called an 'integrated environmental policy'. This article therefore investigates – mostly from a practical point of view – constitutive elements, which are necessary for a holistic policy to serve as a well-functioning allocation mechanism. As these constitutive elements result from a careful 'integration' of the environmental commodities into the economic allocation problems, we refer to these policies as 'integrated environmental policies'. The article also discusses and illustrates the main steps of designing such a policy – for waste electrical and electronic equipment and a (possible) ban of Glyphosat in agriculture. As these policies are dependent on economic and political stability with environmental awareness sufficiently developed, the article addresses mostly waste management policies in highly industrialised countries.

The year 2017 marks 50 years since the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was formed under the Bangkok Declaration on 8 August 1967. The five founding members, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, envisioned political and economic cooperation that would promote stability and prosperity for each country and ultimately a sense of shared culture and identity for the region as a whole. Over the past 50 years, the association has not only withstood the pressures of deep transformations resulting from the significant changes in the region but has in fact doubled in size to its current 10 members by accepting new members, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam. With the passing of a half-century of working together, a key issue now revolves around the question of shared identity and belonging. The region is home to many cultures and languages as well as great disparities in the member states' economies and levels of development. ASEAN has provided a platform for continuous discussion between leaders, which has helped the region address these disparities and adapt to the constantly changing circumstances. But what do the people of ASEAN think about ASEAN? What are their hopes and expectations for ASEAN as a region? Are they aware of how ASEAN institutions work on their behalf? And are ASEAN programmes and initiatives addressing the key concerns of ASEAN people?

The aim of this article is to explain the existence, between 1930 and 1964, of a developmental economic policy patter in Brazil, despite the strong political instability that characterized the period. The thread of the analysis is institutionalist. We tried to find the institutional locus where the stability of economic policy occurred. Firstly, we revealed that this was not the Ministry of Economy. In the following, we show that the agents of the economic bureaucracy are the ones responsible for maintaining the economic policy pattern during those years. Data on economy ministers and the economic bureaucracy were collected from various sources, but especially from Dicionário Histórico Biográfico Brasileiro, by CPDOC. ; El objetivo de este artículo es explicar la existencia, entre los años 1930 y 1964, de un padrón de política económica desarrollista en Brasil, a pesar de la fuerte instabilidad política que caracterizó el período. El hilo conductor del análisis es institucionalista. Intentamos encontrar el locus institucional donde se producía la estabilidad de la política económica. Primeramente, revelamos que este no era el Ministerio de la Economía. A continuación, mostramos que los agentes de la burocracia económica son los responsables por mantener el padrón de política económica durante aquellos años. Los datos sobre ministros de Economía y sobre la burocracia económica fueron colectados a partir de fuentes diversas, pero especialmente del Dicionário Histórico Biográfico Brasileiro del CPDOC.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the largest Islamic countries lies in Arabian Peninsula. The government bases its legitimacy on its interpretation of Sharia (Islamic law) and the 1992 Basic Law. The Basic Law sets out the system of governance, rights of citizens, and powers and duties of the government. The law also provides that the Qur'an and the Traditions (Sunna) of the Prophet Muhammad serve as the country's constitution. As an Islamic country which is rich in culture and natural resources, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia plays prominent influence in Islamic world for various aspects in politics, culture, economics, trading and education. The contribution of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can be clearly seen in education sector, particularly in Al-Quran and Sunnah studies. The country provides a wide opportunity and great facilitation for those who wants to study in Saudi Arabia in their own country. The founding of the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Science (LIPIA) in Indonesia as an important affiliation of Al Imaam University is regarded as real concern of Saudi Arabia in Islamic studies development. Further, pursuant to history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ulama plays respected crucial roles in the government. They are not merely respected for the high and exclusive knowledge in religion, but they are also regarded having capability in balancing the stability of the country. It implies that the government and ulama mutually work to protect the glory of Islam and the Kingdom

On 1st January 2016, after a long period of political and technical negotiations the Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of Insurance and Reinsurance (Solvency II) was implemented and insurance companies of EU countries began to work under new conditions. The persistent low yield environment is heavily affecting the EU financial services industry and it is becoming a severe threat for the life insurers in terms of solvency and sustainability of their business models. The current low interest rate environment poses two types of risk for insurance companies (EIOPA Financial Stability Report, 2013). First risk consists that cash flow risks arise from a narrowing yield spread, as new premiums and returns on maturing investment are reinvested at lower yields relative to the yields that insurers have committed to pay. The available margin on this business is thus gradually eroded by a low yield environment if no action is taken to alter the underlying position. Second risk - valuation risks are linked to the calculation of present values of assets and liabilities of insurance companies, which means that under low interest rates, a decline in benchmark interest rates will be also reflected in the discount rate applied to liabilities. The main purpose of this paper is to present the key drivers of of Solvency II stress test.

On 1st January 2016, after a long period of political and technical negotiations the Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of Insurance and Reinsurance (Solvency II) was implemented and insurance companies of EU countries began to work under new conditions. The persistent low yield environment is heavily affecting the EU financial services industry and it is becoming a severe threat for the life insurers in terms of solvency and sustainability of their business models. The current low interest rate environment poses two types of risk for insurance companies (EIOPA Financial Stability Report, 2013). First risk consists that cash flow risks arise from a narrowing yield spread, as new premiums and returns on maturing investment are reinvested at lower yields relative to the yields that insurers have committed to pay. The available margin on this business is thus gradually eroded by a low yield environment if no action is taken to alter the underlying position. Second risk - valuation risks are linked to the calculation of present values of assets and liabilities of insurance companies, which means that under low interest rates, a decline in benchmark interest rates will be also reflected in the discount rate applied to liabilities. The main purpose of this paper is to present the key drivers of of Solvency II stress test.

We acknowledge seed grants from the Leverhulme Trust, Royal Society and UKIERI. Natural Environment Research Council Argon Isotope Facility grant IP-1267-1111 funded the argon analyses. A.S. was supported by a IIT-K PhD fellowship. J-P.B. receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme ERC-2014-StG 639904 – RELOS. ; Urbanism in the Bronze-age Indus Civilisation (~4.6–3.9 thousand years before the present, ka) has been linked to water resources provided by large Himalayan river systems, although the largest concentrations of urban-scale Indus settlements are located far from extant Himalayan rivers. Here we analyse the sedimentary architecture, chronology and provenance of a major palaeochannel associated with many of these settlements. We show that the palaeochannel is a former course of the Sutlej River, the third largest of the present-day Himalayan rivers. Using optically stimulated luminescence dating of sand grains, we demonstrate that flow of the Sutlej in this course terminated considerably earlier than Indus occupation, with diversion to its present course complete shortly after ~8 ka. Indus urban settlements thus developed along an abandoned river valley rather than an active Himalayan river. Confinement of the Sutlej to its present incised course after ~8 ka likely reduced its propensity to re-route frequently thus enabling long-term stability for Indus settlements sited along the relict palaeochannel. ; Publisher PDF ; Peer reviewed

The first part discusses the consequences of the deficit of real institutional changes in post-socialist SEE countries, and their substitutions by the various anti-developmental institutional imitations, which essentially had the character of alternative quasi-institutions and were in a function of enrichment for the privileged individuals. It points to the importance of neo-institutional economic theories (NET), which provide a sound grounds and recommendations for explanation of the imitation changes, which had anti-institutional and anti-development character. Theoretical explanations of antiinstitutional changes confirm the conclusion that real institutional changes can not be developed on its opposites, in the conditions of feigning the economic freedom and democracy, the governement stability, and the accompaning development of social pathology. The present paper is dedicated to the formation of a theory of institutional modelling that includes principles and ideas that reflect the laws of societal development within the framework of institutional economic theory. The scientific principles of institutional modelling, increasingly postulated by the classics of institutional theory, are discussed. Scientific ideas concerning institutional modelling are proposed on the basis of the results of original design, formalisation and measurement of economic institutions. Applied aspects of the institutional theory of modelling are considered. © 2017, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research. All rights reserved. ; 15-18-00049 ; The study was financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation at Udmurt State University (Izhevsk, Russia), project No. 15-18-00049.

Romania has made considerable progress in recent years towards reducing macroeconomic imbalances. Such reductions, together with monetary policies and structural reforms, either implemented or in progress, have contributed to maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability. After the budget deficit peaked in 2009‐2011 in the context of the economic and financial crisis, Romania's economy then started to recover, at first with a modest annual GDP growth rate of less than 1 percent, but increasing over the period 2013‐2015 to an average of 3.4 percent. The unemployment rate, however, remained constant at below 7 percent, while investments continued to rise, reaching 23.7 percent of GDP in 2015, which was the highest in the EU. Education policies and those aimed at increasing the quality of the workforce are paramount for combating poverty and supportingeconomic growth.The results, as contained in this report, are based on a new World Bank tool designed for this purpose. Known as SABER‐WfD, the tool is part of the World Bank's initiative on Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) whose aim is to provide systematic documentation and assessment of the policy and institutional factors that influence the performance of education and training systems. The SABER‐WfD tool encompasses initial, continuing and targeted vocational education and training that are offered through multiple channels, and focuses largely on programs at the secondary and post‐secondary levels.

One of the prescriptions for adaptive comanagement of social-ecological systems is to follow a bioregional approach. In water resources management, experience has been gained with a bioregional approach by the foundation of river basin organizations (RBOs). Here, we summarize the results of a research project involving 27 colleagues who have undertaken an analysis of the global discussion on RBOs and the foundation of RBOs in Canada, USA, Great Britain, Germany, Portugal, South Africa, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Thailand, and Australia. Drawing on Ostrom's institutional analysis and development framework, we first present a fine-grained analysis of the institutional architecture of these RBOs, which enables us to distinguish between autonomous, coordinating, partnership, and agency type RBOs. Second, we unravel the main controversies over this architecture by focusing on the key actors involved in either promoting or hindering RBO formation, globally and at the national level. Third, we summarize how the performance of RBOs can be evaluated in terms of coordination, accountability, legitimacy, and environmental effectiveness. Finally, we discuss the relationship between institutional design and performance. The main findings are: (1) the foundation of RBOs is not a neutral process but rather a highly political one, (2) the foundation of RBOs creates complex accountability relationships, and (3) institutional interplay, the capacity to generate financial resources, and a minimum degree of institutional stability are crucial to the successes of RBOs in realizing coordination and environmental effectiveness.